For the second time in a week, Jeff Carter had a monster game. On Thursday, Carter had two goals and an assist with 3 shots in the 3-0 win over the Flames. After this game, Carter passed the 60 point plateau while being +17 and over 3 shots per game on the season. The penalty minutes keep him from the truly elite but Carter will still be firmly in the top 100 going into next season. Keep rolling him for the last 10 days of this season. Here’s what else I saw around the league the last two nights:
Wednesday’s Games:
Senators 2, Jets 1 – Andrew Hammond had a fairly easy night stopping 20 of 21 shots in the victory. That was more about the Jets lacking firepower than Hammond being good; he’s a desperate for starts goalie. Mark Stone had an assist with a shot before getting crushed (legally) by Dustin Byfuglien (14 PIM and 3 SOG). He missed the game on Thursday and if you need somebody to do to stream, you can drop Stone. The Sens have no reason to rush him back. Zack Smith kept up his strong second half with a goal and four PIM. The first line for the Jets scored their goal. Personally, I’m shocked #notshocked. Mark Scheifele can’t be stopped right now and neither can Blake Wheeler.
Flyers 2, Capitals 1 (SO) – Massive win for the Flyers in their chase for the playoffs. Steve Mason made 29 saves in the win while Braden Holtby made 33 saves in the loss. Obviously it was a great game for both and you should start them in every game. Alex Ovechkin extended his lead for the Maurice Richard Trophy with a power play goal on three shots with two PIM. Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up an assist and three shots. The first line for Philly also scored on the power play as Brayden Schenn scored from Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux.
Ducks 8, Flames 3 – The Flames were a complete dumpster fire in this game. Ignore the weak pun. Mark Giordano kept up his turnaround with a goal and an assist with four shots and four PIM. Joe Colborne is hotter than a pistol right now adding two assists and a shot. He’s a streamer now in 12’ers and a hold in deep leagues. Hunter Shinkaruk scored a goal on three shots to stay on the radar for deep leagues next season. I could go down the line and list every player who had a big game for the Ducks but I’ll just put the boxscore here. Of fantasy relevance, Jamie McGinn (1+1, 5 SOG) is a hold for now and a slam dunk streamer for tonight (spoiler!). Just like on Wednesday, streaming a bunch of Ducks tonight is going to be an excellent option.
Thursday’s Games:
Sabres 4, Maple Leafs 1 – Chad Johnson was solid between the pipes for the Sabres stopping 25 of 26 shots in the win. He’s a desperate for starts guy. Cal O’Reilly scored two goals on three shots, one of which was assisted from brother Ryan O’Reilly which was a cool moment. Cal is one of those guys who is a AHL All-Star but doesn’t generally have his offense translate to the NHL. In deep leagues, you can use him if you need somebody getting PP time. Johan Larsson, one of my favorite players nobody knows about, scored twice on five shots and added two PIM. He’s been an excellent shutdown player the last couple months and while the offense won’t be relevant in 12’ers next season, Larsson should be a great deep league option, especially if you include faceoffs. Zach Bogosian dished an assist and is clearly must-own at this point while Jack Eichel tallied an assist with six shots in the victory.
Islanders 4, Blue Jackets 3 – Boone Jenner continued his breakout season with a goal and an assist with two shots. At this point, I expect Jenner to be in my top 100 next season. John Tavares scored twice on six shots to get one goal away from back to back 30 goal seasons. Frans Nielsen had two assists with a shot; he only needs one goal fro a 20+30 season. He’s a complete blank PIM guy but he hits the other categories nicely.
Penguins 5, Predators 2 – Pekka Rinne was shelled again giving up 4 goals on 29 shots through 2 periods before getting pulled. Unless he finds his form from last season, he will ruin the Predators season; their skaters have the talent to pull off an upset in the playoffs. James Neal‘s monster season continued in this revenge game with a goal and an assist with five shots. Ryan Johansen also had 1+1 with 2 shots. He’s up to 55 points on the season now despite his disastrous start in Columbus. Phil Kessel apparently needed to play with a worse center to take off. He scored two more goals on five shots playing with Nick Bonino (1+1, 4 SOG). Kris Letang scored a goal and an assist with six shots; my preseason ranking of Letang as the #3 defenseman looks pretty good right now. And ESPN had him outside of the top 100. Ha! Trevor Daley had two assists with a shot but he doesn’t have the opportunity right now for 12’ers.
Hurricanes 4, Rangers 3 – For the Rangers, most of their quality players had a point in the game with Derek Stepan being the only player with two, dishing two assists and added four shots. Nothing has changed with any of the Ranger players. Jeff Skinner scored a goal and an assist with six shots in the victory. I’m going to have Skinner in my top 100 again next season. He’s still only 23 years old, the Canes should get more talent around him, the shots and goals are outstanding and his injuries have gone away the past couple years. Ryan Murphy had two assists with a shot and two PIM; add him to the long list of young, interesting Canes defensemen. Patrick Brown scored a goal and an assist with two shots but I don’t see much there. He was a nice player at Boston College but it hasn’t translated yet to professional hockey. Victor Rask scored another goal in this one and looks like a nice sleeper for next year.
Canadiens 3, Lightning 0 – Brutal loss for the Lightning as they chase the Panthers for first place in the Atlantic. Mike Condon recorded his first career shutout stopping all 26 shots in the win. I’d still avoid him like the plague. Torrey Mitchell scored a goal and an assist with three shots. Scorey Mitchell, amirite? Alexei Emelin dished two assists and a shot to get his annual update on the Razzball website. Sven Andrighetto tallied an assist with two shots to remain on the streaming radar in 14’ers and should be held in 16’ers and deeper.
Panthers 3, Devils 2 – Devante Smith-Pelly had an assist with three shots to keep up his strong play since going to New Jersey. He’s still a decent streamer in 12’ers. Adam Henrique also had an assist to maintain success despite his linemates being very poor. The first line for the Panthers led the way again with Jonathan Huberdeau scoring twice on five shots, Aleksander Barkov burying a goal on six shots and Jaromir Jagr got two assists with three shots. Check out the highlight of Barkov’s goal; the play Jagr made was incredible. Al Montoya stopped 23 of 25 shots in the win and should be started every time he gets the nod.
Senators 3, Wild 2 – Tough loss for the Wild at home to keep the door slightly open for the Avalanche for the second wild card. Zach Parise and Erik Haula both stayed on fire with each scoring a goal for the Wild in defeat. I didn’t think Haula ever had this offense in him but he’s been incredible. I think you could hold him in 12’ers right now. For the Sens, Jean-Gabriel Pageau led the way with a goal and two assists. The 23 year old is over 40 points now as he closes in on 20+20. If your league counts the extra categories, I could see drafting Pageau in 12’ers next season; he’s a clear own in 16’ers and deeper. Bobby Ryan keeps overcoming having two first names with two assists. While Ryan hasn’t been nearly as good in the second half as the first, he’s surpassed last season’s point total which surprises me. Erik Karlsson did his usual with a goal and an assist. Based on what I’ve read, it sounds like Karlsson will lose the Norris to Drew Doughty which is quite a shame.
Stars 4, Coyotes 1 – The first line scored the goal for Arizona with Martin Hanzal scoring from Max Domi and Anthony Duclair. Hanzal has been magnificent lately and will be a nice mid-round target next season. Domi feels like a breakout is coming while Duclair completely depends on whether or not he starts to shoot the puck more. Jamie Benn scored a goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM to reach 40 goals for the first time. His stat line is so absurd. Ales Hemsky dished two assists to extend his point streak. He’s a decent streamer right now. John Klingberg also had two assists as he closes in on 60 points. Antti Niemi came back from his strong game against the Sharks to have another big game stopping 31 of 32 shots. This season has been a mess for Niemi besides wins.
Kings 3, Flames 0 – The Flames were so tired from the beating they took the night before that they took a different type of beating yesterday. Jonathan Quick had a nice, easy 21 save shutout. Anze Kopitar‘s two assists got him back to the 70 point mark again. Otherwise, there wasn’t really much here.
Canucks 4, Sharks 2 – Man, this was a horrible loss for the Sharks. It almost locks them into third in the division meaning they have to go on the road against the Ducks or Kings round one. Very likely they are one and done again. Brent Burns did Brent Burns things with two assists and four shots in the loss. Logan Couture kept up his recent fine form with a goal on four shots. Jannik Hansen scored a goal and an assist with two shots and two PIM in the win. It’s very impressive that Hansen has 20 goals with no power play time but it’s even more impressive to me that he’s +16 on the season considering how horrible Vancouver has been for a few months. The Cyborgs had their usual goal with Daniel Sedin scoring from Henrik Sedin. Ryan Miller finally received some goal support and delivered a strong performance stopping 32 of 34 shots in the win. Miller is still a “desperate for starts” guy.
Friday Streamers – There are five games on Friday and with a big eleven game slate on Saturday, you should really stream tonight since it probably won’t be necessary tomorrow. Here are my top three options:
Jamie McGinn (17.3%) – Hotter than a pistol and he gets the Canucks, let alone the Canucks on the second of a back to back in Anaheim.
Brandon Pirri (1.5%) – He’s scored in three of the last four and had five points in those four games. The matchup is so sweet that I would grab as many Ducks as I can stream.
Erik Haula (7.0%) – Haula is on a ten game point streak; what else do you want? You could go with Nino Niederreiter as well here.
That’s all for now guys. I’ll be back on Monday recapping the weekend’s action. As always, feel free to ask any questions and leave any comments below. I hope everyone had a great weekend and I wish you the best of luck in this penultimate weekend of regular season hockey. Take care!
